'Campaign' director Jay Roach 'hopes film sparks political awareness'

Director Jay Roach has said that he would like for his comedy The Campaign to open up a dialogue about the state of politics in the US.

Roach previously helmed the political dramas Recount and Game Change and has now spoofed US elections with the latest Will Ferrell comedy.

In an interview with MTV News, the filmmaker quipped that openly parodying politics was almost like "therapy".

"Politics is scary. You dream of some kind of political system where the country is getting better for it and real leaders are stepping up. It's a little daunting that it seeks descending into something less and less like what's going to help the country," Roach explained.

He went on to express hopes that The Campaign's portrayal of a cutthroat Congressional race will open up a dialogue about negative advertisements.

"I do keep an eye on politics, probably too much. I turn to Jon Stewart, or Saturday Night Live, or The Colbert [Report] and just say, 'OK, I'm not crazy. I'm not the only person that's saying this is absurd'," Roach teased.

He continued: "I hope the film kind of does that too, if nothing else. It's not that serious. It doesn't really do anything other than just making you laugh, but maybe it helps you feel that you're not alone in finding it completely crazy... I'm interested to see how this gets commented on by the punditry.

"I hope it leaks into the conversation a little bit when people talk about how extreme some of the negative campaigning has gotten."